17th May, 2015

Woke up on this fine morning to find a huge fox sunbathing on the lawn at the fringe of our wood.

It was totally unperturbed about us but its coat shone in the sunlight. It was clearly healthy and well fed.

Pauline received an email to inform us that we had won the lottery again. It turned out to be only £25.00/€34.35 but it’s better than nothing.

18th May, 2015

A warm but distinctly damp morning which gave way to strong, afternoon sun. We went out to sort Phyllis’ broadband service out. It’s working now but the email address she was being offered is so perversely ridiculous that she is prepared to pay BT money to continue using her original one.

We spent a couple of hours doing something which were doing in Sifnos exactly a year ago. We were de-cluttering our house prior to marketing/sale of it. We’ve bought and sold five houses now and our routine is fairly well honed. It’s amazing how cathartic bagging up and disposing of one’s past can be. Actually, I’m going to rent 20 sq. ft. of storage space to get some things – including 35 large, framed pictures that I haven’t got round to selling – out of the property to increase the sense of space here.

We are going out to the south coast to re-visit a development later this week. Next week we will go through three estate agency valuations and make a decision who to go with.

As I warned some weeks ago, tourists and tourist companies are starting to take fright at the fragile state of the Greek banking industry. Bloomberg is reporting that Greek Bonds have tumbled on speculation that the government has really only days until the cash runs out and that German tourists, in particular, are now hesitating about committing bookings to the country.

19th May, 2015

This has been a strange day. It started off with a Thunder and lightning storm and was followed by huge hailstones. Later the skies cleared to brilliant blue with strong sun.

I was supposed to be going to the Health Club but, as I drove there, my head started going ‘gongy’ and I felt, briefly, disorientated. I had to stop the car and turn round and go home by which time the spell was over but it was a little alarming at the time. Pauline wondered if I had experienced a small stroke but I have no after effect symptoms. Pauline’s health is still not perfect. She has all the signs of being ‘run down’ with eye infection, mouth ulcers and still sore at the site of her operation. We may have to put Greece off until September. It will give us more time for house hunting/buying anyway.

20th May, 2015

Superfast Ferries have confirmed the current cost of our return tickets to Patras from Ancona. It is €1300.00/£930.00 which is more than usual in spite of  improved currency exchange.

 

We first travelled with them in 2000. This year, they are advertising the fact that it is their twentieth year. We certainly didn’t realise at the time how new they were when we chose them. Today, I booked our Eurotunnel crossing which remains very similar to last year in price. Britain does have – temporarily at least – sub zero inflation.

Pauline’s health is still a little fragile but improving. Today, she accompanied me to the Health Club and she did some ‘light walking’ for an hour. She got through it without mishap but was really feeling the effects afterwards. She also cooked the most wonderful meal for us today. We had casseroled pheasant with roasted fennel and shallots. I was in heaven. I was certainly pleased to have no follow on of yesterday’s health scare although I did get a nice text from Ruth referring to it.

21st May, 2015

A glorious morning with warm sun and blue sky. The gardeners are here already mowing the lawns and strimming the edges. We have a busy day. As part of our de-cluttering phase, we are going to the central refuse tip to get rid of weeded out waste. We are going on to book a storage room for additional but immediately unnecessary possessions. After a last Tesco shop for some time, we are going to do a Health Club session. After that, I can collapse in front of the First Test at Lords against the New Zealanders.

Enjoyed the first Test Cricket for 16 years. Lunched on Lobster and prawn salad with cold Prosecco and collapsed happy.

22nd May, 2015

A pleasant day of cloud and sun with temperatures around 19C/66F. We finally got round to renting storage space in Brooklands, Weybridge. It will cost us £102.00/€143.00 for three months.

We expect to need six months at the most. We will be taking a large collection of framed pictures and a number of huge, plastic storage boxes full of ‘stuff’ which we don’t want to throw away but won’t need before we move. The apartment will heave a great sigh of relief when they are gone.

Next week we will invite three or four estate agents to value our property. We are told that even average property prices have increased by £21,000.00/€29,500.00 since it was last valued. However, as soon as we have a valuation, we will make a decision about how much we want to spend on the next property. Most people of our age are looking to downsize. Not so many are looking to go the other way but we think it is the best investment for our money at the moment. We are going down to the Sussex/Hampshire coastal area later next week to look at property developments.

23rd May, 2015

Happy Birthday to Ruth – an excellent, if old, sister:

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look …
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.

W.B.Yeats

As she says, we’ll all be nodding by the fire soon enough! I feel like it now after the day we’ve had. It was like being back at work. Having booked the self-storage pod, we were up early and set to with a will, boxing up lots of ‘stuff’ that is cluttering our Duplex but we don’t want to throw away. Added to that, I stacked 35 huge and very heavy framed pictures that we brought from our Yorkshire house. We put the seats flat in our ‘4×4’ and filled it with ‘stuff’ and then drove the three or so miles to our storage building. It is an excellent, bright and modern facility hyper-controlled by multiple passwords, locks, lifts and CCTV monitored corridors. The owner, it turns out, is Italian who had owned a restaurant in central London and who originates from Puglia. This is somewhere we are keen to visit so we have pledged to stay connected to him for future reference.

By mid-afternoon, we had loaded and unloaded the car a number of times, set the locks on our storage unit and driven away just as light rain fell. There had been some rain at Lords but the cricket was still quite dire. We ate smoked salmon and prawns with Greek salad and collapsed exhausted.

Meanwhile, things have become so perilous in Greece that Kathimerini reports

 Tour Operators (and any sensible tourists will act with the same caution) after the drachma clauses seen in tourism contracts, are now forcing hoteliers in Greece to sign contracts with a Greek default clause.  ….. Furthermore, the financial terms of contracts will depend on the planned value-added tax hikes on tourism.

Their competitors are rubbing their hands with glee. To add the atmosphere of dangerous chaos, The Times runs a story this morning headed,

Greek hospitals run out of sheets, painkillers and cash to pay nurses!

In it they catalogue the parlous state the State Healthcare system has fallen into and quote an Athenian surgeon:

We are at a breaking point. There is no money to repair medical equipment, no money for ambulances to use for petrol, no money to hire nurses and no money to buy modern surgical supplies.

One wonders where this will end – particularly if they exit the European Monetary Union.

10th May, 2015

A warm day of sun and cloud devoted to the newspapers. Obviously the majority of serious newspapers were concentrating on post election match analysis.

To a left leaning voter like myself, it was blindingly obvious that Labour had deserted the centre ground. They had shunned – even provoked – business and seen a return to centrist, statist actions that belonged in the pre-Thatcher era. There can be no going back and that will include in the choice of a new leader. Social Democracy will have to be at the heart of the new party’s appeal to the electorate. It could be a long haul.

11th May, 2015

A warm day which reached 20C/68F. We did an early trip to Sainsbury’s in Knaphill and I then did an hour at the Health Centre. I timed it to combine with political discussion of Cameron’s new cabinet and Labour’s struggle for the party leadership. The time soon flies with gripping viewing like that. The warmer weather combined with my exertions meant I left dripping in sweat and hotter than the environment. We had a lovely, light meal of smoked salmon, prawns and salad.

Pauline has spent the afternoon ordering dresses on-line. She certainly needs something to perk her up. She is still at less than full health and vigour. It is amazing how surgery has affected her. It is almost eight weeks since her operation. We are champing at the bit to get travelling but can’t make arrangements until she is up to it.

12th May, 2015

Pleasant day of sun and cloud reaching only 18C/65F. Pauline spent her morning liaising with the Management Company for our Development while I exercised at the gym. We had fish and salad for lunch and planned travel in the next few weeks. Starting to feel a little hemmed in and missing our drive across Europe. Got to get going soon.

Will Greece still be open for business? Kathimerini reports this morning that, although Greece managed to cobble together a repayment to the IMF today,

it finds itself in a state of quarantine, as is anything related to the “Greek risk,” due to the ongoing uncertainty and the danger of a serious liquidity accident. Foreign banks and stockbrokerages have either drastically cut or altogether stopped conducting transactions with their Greek peers over fears of the complications an accident or capital controls would generate.

This is just one step from the Cypriot debacle when full capital controls left citizens unable to use cash machines and eventually limited to withdrawals of pitifully small amounts of money.

13th May, 2015

Absolutely gorgeous Summer’s day with temperatures reaching 24C/75F. We spent it busily visiting people and places before sitting out this afternoon. Drove to town for Pauline to pick up a dress she’d ordered but not before three others had been delivered to our door. Actually, she ultimately only liked two of the four. We spent a couple of hours at Phyllis’s house trying to set up her new EE Broadband hub but it ended in a frustrated call to EE who hadn’t completed the connection.

About 1.00 pm, we drove on to the nearest garden centre to buy a couple of ceramic planters and some lovely mixed lavenders to fill them with a bag of compost and a bag of gravel.

 

We got captivated by a large, white hydrangea and a similar blue one, threw in a yellow lupin and a mauve, Greek lavender and we’d spent £150.00. Still, it’s all in a good cause and they do express quintessential, English Summer!

14th May, 2015

The gardener arrived early, spent the morning cutting the lawns. I asked him to plant our new purchases. We went off to see Phyllis and try to get her broadband up and running. It is a simple business but I still couldn’t manage it. Eventually, we found out that the phone company

hadn’t done their job correctly and we just have to wait for that to be effected. It’s pretty poor service and rather frustrating. They would fit in as a Greek operator. When we got home, the gardener had finished his job and the skies had opened, watering in the new plants perfectly.

Pauline spent a couple of hours doing house work while I spent the same time at the Health Club – an hour on the treadmill and an hour in the pool/Steam Room, Sauna. Felt great when I got home for a meal of tomato & basil soup followed by roast chicken and vegetables.

15th May, 2015

We had the most wonderful, heavy rain last night providing much needed drinks to the natural world. The lavenders that we had planted thanked us with a fine display this morning.

The day has been mild and dry. We did an early Tesco shop and then some house cleaning and tidying. Pauline cooked a wonderful meal of roast hake with roast vegetables – onion, fennel and mushroom.

If you compare us with Greece, we have no concerns about the regularity of pension payments – our teachers’ pensions or our State pensions – which are never late and often early if a Bank Holiday or weekend intervenes. In Greece, Public Sector pay was paid mid-May but there are real concerns about end of May and June payments. Just imagine how that must feel! One wonders whether big-ticket projects like the new, Sifnos school will have the finance to complete and continue if the supply of central finance dries up. We know our island friends are very worried about the future.

16th May, 2015

Lovely, sunny and warm – 22C/70F – day. The grounds around us look beautiful. The lawns were striped on Thursday. Birds are singing everywhere and bushes are flowering in abundance. Pauline did some de-cluttering of the house (late Spring Cleaning?) today while I did a hard hour’s workout at the Health Club.

We use a Bank credit card that provides us with ‘points’ for each pound we spend using it. As everything we spend is done through our credit card account and then paid off at the end of the month, we rack up quite a collection of points. These points can be traded in for flights and its predecessor was the Airmiles company. They can also be traded in for commodities through named companies, sold for cash or vouchers. Last year, we used our points to buy return British Airways flights to Athens but it is an expensive way to do it. This year, we have already have amassed enough points to be sold for £350.00/€481.00 cash but, alternatively, we can buy £700.00/€962.00 worth of Sainsbury’s vouchers and that is what I’ve done.

It will pay our supermarket bill for a month which can’t be bad.

Conversely, Channel 4 News revealed tonight that they had obtained a copy of a confidential Greek government briefing paper which states categorically that, if they don’t receive additional bailout money in the next three weeks, they will be insolvent and then the banking system will go into meltdown. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

3rd May, 2015

26th April, 2015

Up at 6.00 am and out on the M25 by 7.00 am. en route to Yorkshire. It is rather a struggle for Pauline because of her ongoing operation wounds but she’s managing. We have a structured five days of property development visits and meetings with friends and relations. Property Developers are available on Sunday when the rest of the world is not at work so we will do some visits today.

We are looking in a reasonable radius of Leeds for new-build properties. We know almost immediately if a location is right or wrong for us so we easily dismissed a Taylor Wimpey build at Crigglestone and another at Whinmoor, a Ben Bailey build at Crossgates and a David Wilson build in Wakefield. We were quite taken with Harron Homes, a Yorkshire builder’s development in Horbury and may well return to it when more properties are finished.

The weather had been beautiful, sunny and warm throughout the day and the M1 was incredibly quiet so the three hour drive was delightful and relaxing but, after an additional five visits to housing developments, we were ready for a rest so we drove on to our hotel – the Holiday Inn in Brighouse for our one meal of the day and a bottle of wine. And so to bed.

27th April, 2015

Don’t you just love Mondays? We do and especially this one. The weather is beautiful. We are free in sunny Yorkshire which fits us like an old shoe and we are going to see friends. But first we are property searching. Harron Homes in Blackley and Redrow in Horsforth were on the list and the latter was a pleasant surprise.

We drove on to Huddersfield to visit our old friend and Honda car dealer, Chris Wood. We spent and hour or so with him and then back to rest before getting ready for the evening. We were meeting our friends, Margaret & Tony, for dinner at the Golden Cock, Michelin starred restaurant in Farnley Tyas.

It was great to see them and the meal was wonderful. They’ve just bought a property in Spain and are setting off to drive there in a couple of days. We are envious and can’t wait to set off on our travels as well.

28th April, 2015

Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Be very careful if you go to Greece this year. Don’t pay up front for anything. Don’t put money in a Greek bank account. Don’t forward pay hoteliers. There is a real risk of default and you losing all your money. We have been so lucky to get out in time. This week, panic set in across the country as pensioners feared not being paid, raided their bank accounts and risked a run on the banks’ reserves. The coalition government are scrabbling around to find the cash and trying to call it in from the country’s institutions and local government. They are constantly running to keep up and losing the race, as The Times cartoon pointed out yesterday:

We feel so sorry for our friends on Sifnos and particularly for our special friends, two proud, middle class Greeks who depend largely on their pensions to get by week to week. Got a lovely email from Elerania this morning.

Drove over to Bolton this morning to visit my beautiful and very young-looking sister, Ruth and her wonderful husband, Kevan. They live in a gorgeous, penthouse apartment in which they look so happy and comfortable. We only stayed an hour because they are busy people but it was lovely to visit.

29th April, 2015

Today is going to be tiring. We are driving over to Oldham in Lancashire to meet our friend and ex-colleague, aka Little Viv who has become a full time carer for her aged mother. There are some good people in the world – certainly much better than me. We had coffee in the new Library coffee shop.

It was nice coffee but rather harrowing hearing Viv’s woes. She could only manage an hour away from her Mum and then she was off. We drove on to Shaw to visit my old friend, Brian and his wife, Val. We spent an hour with them and then drove back to Oldham to visit Pauline’s relatives, Joyce & Harry, whose kids we taught but are now 50 and 55 years old. Time just continues to fly. We drove back to our hotel and collapsed, exhausted. As we approached the M62, there was a warning on our car’s media screen saying 6 mile tailbacks ahead. We took the moors road instead. Even that was beginning to get busy. Thank goodness we did. Two lorries had crashed through the central reservation and nothing moved for seven hours.

30th April, 2015

Up a little later at 7.15 am this morning because we were so tired. After breakfast, we set off for one more property search at Skelmanthorpe – a Redrow development – which turned out to be very close to Emley Moor.

Although the countryside is beautiful, it is too high, exposed and remote for old codgers like us. We set the sat. nav. for Woking and did the most delightful, problem free drive back up the M1 that you could imagine.

Arriving home and opening the garage gates remotely – I got out because the codes have been changed – I noticed that one of my sidelight bulbs had gone. Trip to Honda tomorrow. After a lovely meal of chicken and roast vegetables, Pauline stacked the dishwasher and put it on only to find that it wasn’t working. Have to call out the Hotpoint service engineer tomorrow. At least we can make coffee – no we can’t. The coffee maker is showing an error and refusing to budge. Lovely to be home.

1st May, 2015

Welcome to May! It’s started well for us. The dishwasher has righted itself. Pauline had rushed switching it off before we left last Sunday and it just needed to complete its electronic cycle before being restarted. The coffee maker just needed emptying of coffee grounds  in order to proceed and a quick visit to Honda will get the bulb replaced this afternoon. We’ve done a Waitrose shop and bought the world’s total supply of cod, hake, trout and tuna. Now I can settle down with fresh coffee and watch The Daily Politics.

Went back to Honda this afternoon and they talked amongst themselves a lot before deciding that no bulb had gone. It was just a trick of the adaptive headlights which come on the right when you turn right and turns on left when you turn left. So, three problems all evaporate!

2nd May, 2015

Pleasant day without too much sun. Our neighbour has asked us to do cat-sitting duty until Monday so we feel the weight of responsibility on our shoulders. It is a day of newspapers and correspondence as well as Test Match and football. Because we’ve been away and I found it very tiring, I haven’t been to the gym for a week. I start again tomorrow although Pauline will be another week at least.

Pauline has cooked the most wonderful meal of roast loin of cod with roast vegetables – asparagus, shallot, red pepper, fennel, celery, chestnut mushrooms. I couldn’t have done better myself.

19th April, 2015

Pleasant, sunny day but with a little chilly edge on the breeze. After a hard hour in the gym, I worked out that I’ve done 6 hours work in the past 8 days and used 3600 calories which is 2 days’ food allowance for me.

Here, with 18  days to go until our General Election poll, Labour is starting to nose in front although no one is likely to get an overall majority. It is making parties’ election pledges and voter decisions difficult. Who can you trust to implement their proposals? Who should you vote for to keep the others out? It’s all very difficult.

It’s beginning to look nigh on impossible in Greece. Most European partners are preparing for Greek default. The first signs will be credit controls on Greek Banks but the medium term will be the definitive impoverishment of the Greek people with massive devaluation and equally massive inflation. Those who argue casually in the cafes and coffee shops about the merits of being in the euro just won’t believe what’s hit them if they fall out of the zone.

20th April, 2015

Lovely, warm and sunny day with clear blue skies – 21C/70F. It is impossible to go anywhere around here without noticing the blossom. It is so outstanding.

We sat outside for a few hours and started to plan our trip for next week. It is the next stage on Pauline’s recovery before we set off for Europe. We are going to Yorkshire for four or five days. We will visit old friends and research our alternative house-buying possibility. We have narrowed our search down to two, entirely separate areas. Our first choice is in Sussex and we hope to return there this week. Our second choice, where a house will save us around £200,000.00, is Yorkshire within reasonably easy reach of Leeds. This is what we will visit next week. One has the climate the other has the economy. Choices, choices!

In the mean time, I have done another hour/600 cals. of exercise today. I’m just getting too fit for my own good. Jane B.G. has got no chance of catching me.

21st April, 2015

Certainly another lovely day. They’re so enjoyable when you’re retired. We’ve decided that Pauline will manage a trip to Yorkshire next week so we sat in the sun to plan a four day break. We are looking for a new house and have narrowed our search down to Sussex or Yorkshire. Unfortunately, the same house in Yorkshire can be £200,000 less than the identical one in Sussex. At the same time, the climate in Sussex is noticeably more pleasant. Such a dilemma!

After yet another hour at the gym, we griddled fish outside with vegetables. There is something different – enhanced – about cooking outside. They don’t do so much of that in Yorkshire.

22nd April, 2015

In spite of her discomfort, I took Pauline to town to have her hair cut. We also called at our mobile providers, EE, to collect our Power Bar which cleverly stores enough power to recharge a mobile phone.

Many companies charge around £25.00 but ours is giving them away freely to contract customers. You recharge it via a USB connection to a computer/laptop or iPad charging plug. If it is empty when you need it, you can just go in to the nearest EE shop and get a charged replacement. This is the answer to  electric cars – swap a spent battery for a forecourt charged battery. The battery fitting would have to be snap-in-snap-out. It could be quicker than filling a full tank with petrol. I’m spotting a gap in the market here!

23rd April, 2015

There is a serious possibility of the sky, imminently, falling in on Greece and its islands. They have a series of increasingly sizable debts to repay to the IMF and the ECB over the next three months. The Times this morning headlines: Greeks face bankruptcy as cash runs out for wages and pensions and goes on:

Greece will go bust next week, potentially pushing the highly indebted country into default and out of the eurozone and plunging the European Union into an unprecedented crisis. The head of the Greek treasury admitted yesterday that the government could not pay its bills, including the salaries and pensions of millions of public sector workers that are due at the end of the month.

To avoid default, Athens must pay the despised creditors of the International Monetary Fund and the eurozone before its own citizens. Such an outcome would be deeply humiliating for the leftist government, elected on the pledge to put Greeks first. Dimitris Mardas, the deputy finance minister, said the treasury coffers were €400 million short of the €1.9 billion needed to honour payroll obligations to state employees. “We have been running on empty since February.

The Greek government and Press are almost certainly not telling their population the full truth about how much they are having to rob Peter to pay Paul but the islands are already starting to see and be surprised by the unusually early visits of IKA (tax & employment) inspectors. It’s certainly no dream on Symi. The Blog, Keep Talking Greece, reports:

Greece’s Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis has warned that Greece did not have the resources to repay two loans to the European Central Bank loans, amounting to some €7.6 billion, which fall due next July and August. However he underlined that a Greek default on loans to International Monetary Fund was out of question.

What this means is that the big trouble could be put off until the most sensitive point of the year – peak tourist season. This is when financial controls could hit hoteliers, café/restaurant owners, ferry schedules, etc.. Moving money in and out of the country will be the first control but collapse of infrastructure and travel arrangements will not be far behind.

24th April, 2015

Warm but hazy for much of the day. Pauline had her first post-operative Doctor’s check up. As the doctor confirmed, it is taking a bit longer to get back to normal than we had hoped and had been led to expect. We still expect to make our trip to Yorkshire but we will take things easy – as you can when you’re retired.

Yesterday was St George’s Day – the Englander’s day. In Scotland, Ireland and, particularly, Greece, the national day is a big thing but, as an Englishman, I just can’t raise any interest in England or England Day. Maybe because of the General Election coverage, there was a half hearted attempt to acknowledge the day and St George’s flag but not much.

On reflection, I’m quite proud to be so English that I don’t need to assert and reaffirm it. I am much more confident identifying myself as a European.

25th April, 2015

We woke to find it had rained. How wonderful! How delicious the grass and trees looked – refreshed and sparkling. It is weeks since we saw rain. The forecast is for more in the coming days. Even so, it is still extremely warm.

Yesterday was the Name Day of our Sifnos bank manager, Georgia, and today we have a photo of Eleraniatown:

Can’t wait to see them again!

12th April, 2015

Καλή Ανάσταση, Χρόνια Πολλά και Καλό Πάσχα!

to our Greek friends. Hope you’ve had a great day.

It has been wonderful here – warm and sunny. We’ve been sitting outside for large chunks of it – when we weren’t watching United destroy City. Everybody’s back from their skiing holidays so the gym was much more busy this morning. I did 9 Kms this morning on running machine and bike combined and felt I could do more. I knock off about 600 calories which seems fairly meagre in the grand scheme of things. I went on my own and we’ve cancelled our stay in Brighton already. We don’t think Pauline is quite ready for it yet. At best we will have a day out.

13th April, 2015

Went to have the car cleaned this morning and to get a loose fitting dress for Pauline. As we walked through the car park, we spotted a Greek car parked up.

It was bought in Larissa – Northern Greece – but would have done our journey to Patras and Ancona and then on across Europe. We are rather itching to get going but mustn’t rush Pauline. We will drive down to Sussex tomorrow but that is the extent of our ambition at the moment. As part of the Tories Election pledges, they announce the intention to make access to the National Health services in UK requiring two things from all comers: passports will have to be shown and proof of time spent living abroad will have to be evidenced. This will apply to EU and non-EU residents and will prevent Health tourism from non-EU citizens and galvanise countries inside the EU who are currently failing to compensate UK NHS for treatment their citizens have received here. This is a Tory policy I almost like!

14th April, 2015

An absolutely gorgeous day of blue sky and wall to wall sunshine with a temperature of 22C/70F. We set off for the Sussex coast at 9.00 am and arrived in the delightful town of Angmering an hour later.

We were looking at new houses and may just have found one. It won’t be ready for a few months so we will need to time the marketing of our Duplex correctly so we are not living on the streets for the interregnum. Back home by 1.30 pm, we were cooking griddled chicken and vegetables outside by mid-afternoon and fending off next door’s cat who appeared absolutely starving. It has been a lovely day but Pauline really flagged this evening.

15th April, 2015

This morning has opened to another Summer’s day which eventually reaches 23C/74F of dazzling sunshine. We went off to pick up a parcel – a new dress for Pauline – from the Post Office and then on to Waitrose for fresh fish for our meal. We griddled a medley of Hake, Trout and (Greek) Sea Bass fillets along with courgette, fennel and mushroom. We did this outside with a chilled bottle of  Prosseco. Wonderful!

I earned it by doing an hour’s workout first. It will probably be another couple of weeks before Pauline can restart exercise.

Greece’s sovereign debt rating has been slashed further into “junk” territory as the true extent of the country’s financial woes were laid bare today. Figures from the Athens’ finance ministry revealed the economy has slipped further into the red following the election. Separate data from the country’s official statistics authority also showed a gaping hole in the public finances, with the budget deficit stooping to 3.5pc of GDP in 2014, while the primary budget surplus was only 0.4pc. The Greek housing market remained bottom in the Eurozone with an annual decline of 6.6 %  for new residences and 10.9 %  for older properties.

15th April, 2015

Athens made an informal approach to the International Monetary Fund about delaying loan repayments, only to be told that rescheduling was not possible. The IMF is owed nearly €1bn in two payments due in May. UK markets are factoring in Grexit, as bonds yields in Athens soar on the back of concerns over a potential Greek default.

It’s been another lovely, warm day here. I’ve done an hour’s work out whereas Pauline has had a little bit of  a relapse with some discomfort. She is having to take things more slowly than she would wish. I had my INR test and it was well in my target spread. It has been there since early November. I must be doing something right!

16th April, 2015

A delicious, early Summer’s day of pleasant sunshine although a touch cooler than yesterday. We were at 16C/61F by 10.00 am with an edge on the breeze. The trees are in that first flush of lime green colour that characterises new leaf.

It looks wonderful against the blue sky. Pauline and I haven’t see this time in England for the past seven years and it is quite a revelation. People in UK think Mediterranean, wall-to-wall sunshine is something to be envied. When you have it, British, seasonal variation is something to be longed for. Having said that, It will be nice to snatch a few weeks of sunshine when Pauline is up to it.

17th April, 2015

Apparently, this is lining up to be the warmest April in UK for many years – decades. What a time to choose to be in Surrey! We seem to do a lot outside at the moment – reading, cooking, etc. just as we would have done in Greece.

Did another hard hour in the gym while Pauline talked to her beautiful sister. We had a very healthy meal of smoked salmon, prawns and Waldorf salad. It made a lovely, fresh tasting meal.

5th April, 2015

Pleasant sunny day. Spent it reading the papers and watching football. Pauline was struggling to cope. She needs to take everything rather more slowly than she likes.

Ruth phoned, which was nice. She is 68 this May which really shakes me. She looks so young. I can’t believe it.

6th April, 2015

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me………..
When I’m 75.

Easter Day fell on March 25th in 1951 so I didn’t see it. As a consequence, this is my 63rd Easter Day. As if it makes any difference. I’ve been to the Health Club and done a hard hour in a totally deserted Gym and then come back to spend a couple of hours in the sun in our garden. The temperature is 21C/72F with cloudless, blue skies and no breeze. My Birthday treat – I’ve been looking forward to it for more than two years – is pizza. Pauline is making one Prosciutto & Mozzarella and one vegetarian.

We will share them both. Back to the diet regime tomorrow.

Been talking to my friend, Martin from Sifnos, this morning. Really must get to see him soon.

Lovely pizzas but I realise that I’m not missing anything. It’s all in the head. That’s where it’s going to stay in future.

7th April, 2015

The most delightful, Summer’s day today – cloudless, warm and still. I started the day unstacking the dishwasher, making tea and delivering it to Pauline in bed. Gulped my own tea down and then began hovering the entire flat. Made fresh coffee for us both while we read our newspapers and then I went out to do a really good hour at the gym.

Pauline cooked duck legs with griddled onion and mushroom for our meal.

It was good to get back into the regime after yesterday. When you’re 64+1 day, you have to look after yourself – doesn’t one? Really strange thing happened yesterday. Someone hacked into the Blog and made a derogatory reference to Ruth. Fortunately, I spotted it early and returned it to the original.

8th April, 2015

Summer continues (20C/68F) and so does Pauline’s convalescence. Today, in warm, strong sunshine she had her first real outing. I took her to a local garden centre – Squires in Horsell outside Woking.

She walked painfully slowly for a maximum of 10 minutes before I took her home. When we got back, she admitted that she had been surprised how tired she felt in that simple exertion. Of course, it is so often like that. Recuperating from illness in the security of one’s own home, one builds up a fall confidence which evaporates as soon as one tests oneself in the hurly burly of life or even the peacefulness of a sunny garden centre. And so it was with Pauline.

We are planning a trip to Sussex soon and another to Yorkshire in three weeks during which she rediscovers her strength. The wounds are still scarily deep and look as if it will be some time before can go abroad. Even so, we are beginning to make plans for just that.

9th April, 2015

A gorgeous 22C/72F today with strong sun. Pauline’s rehabilitation continues with a brief trip to the supermarket and to Marks& Spencer. She is struggling with tight fitting clothes over still painful operation wounds and we went to find her something light and loose-fitting. Fortunately, we emerged triumphantly clutching just the garment.

I went on to the Health Club for an hour of strenuous activity. I try to time my exercise to fit in with The Daily Politics on BBC2 at 12.00 pm – 1.00 pm. It is always riveting but even more so now the election is in full swing. I get so engrossed in the debates that I am surprised to find an hour has flown by. Sometimes, I find myself not stopping until the arguments are completed.

Back home Pauline is outside in the sunshine of our garden quad.,  preparing to griddle chicken breasts in lemon and garlic with griddled vegetables – fennel, onion, courgette, mushroom and asparagus.

This is currently my ideal meal.

10th April, 2015

At 10.00 pm last night, I reached for my phone to make a call only to find it wasn’t there. Panic!!! When did I last see it? Where was I? How long ago? Realisation – I last saw it at lunchtime when I was in the gym at the Health Club about 10 hours ago. My phone is a Sony Experia with a 4G contract.

I use it as much to check my bank account, the currency rate, my emails and texts as I do to make calls. It isn’t the most expensive model I could have but it’s worth about £250.00.

While I was charging round the house panicking and shouting , Don’t Panic! , Pauline was calmly phoning the Health Club which closes at 11.00 pm. In answer to her question, someone on the desk said just as calmly, Oh, Yes, Madam. We put it in the safe. Your husband can collect it tomorrow. So that’s alright then. I told them not to panic.

This morning in 22C/72F warmth and hazy sunshine, I left for my hour’s exercise and to be reunited with my mobile phone. I have it now and I’m still calm.

11th April, 2015

Just as sunny but rather cooler today. We’ve reached 14C/57F which is probably respectable for the time of year but feels comparatively less comfortable. Short sleeves have suddenly started to feel less appropriate.

Pauline will be taking the next, major step in her recuperation next week. We are going down to Sussex to look at a new property and staying in Brighton overnight. It will be interesting to see how she copes. Just using a seat belt is difficult at the moment. We are going to Angmering and Littlehampton. My birthday card at the beginning of the week featured a shot of Littlehampton.

Who knows, it may be prophetic.

29th March, 2015

Summer time and the living is easy. Actually, it has never been easier. Perhaps it’s too easy.

Pauline is looking a bit better this morning although her body is battered and bruised. She has been given green ‘flight socks’ to wear for the next fortnight. She is wearing bed socks over the top and looks an absolute delight. She has had her first breakfast of toast and marmalade for 27 months and it has perked her up a little. However, we can’t make any plans yet because the road to recovery may be rocky and uncertain. We keep looking at Greek travel and then drawing back because we are not in a position to commit. As I worry about Pauline, I think about Skiathan Man and what he and his family are going through. I hope they are coping with the cruelty of life.

30th March, 2015

A delicious Spring day of blue skies, warm sun, bird song and flowering trees. Camelias have been in full flower for some time and are now followed by Magnolia. The world is beautiful.

 

Pauline is growing stronger and beginning to move more easily. Things seem to be healing quickly.

31st March, 2015

Another lovely day outside to say farewell to March 2015. Unfortunately,  Pauline has had a bit of a relapse this morning. She had to have her dressings changed and is feeling uncomfortable and frail. We are going to monitor it for a couple more days and then, if there is no improvement, contact the Hospital Support Team at Ashford.

I had to learn how to turn the Dishwasher on before Pauline’s operation. I actually, feel quite empowered now I can do it for myself.  I even got the vacuum cleaner out. There will be no way back from here. I did a really vigorous hour on my own at the Health Club and spent the rest of the day feeling shattered.

1st April, 2015

Happy April.

All Fools’ Day – You know who you are! It’s certainly a lovely day here in Surrey. The car’s thermometer read 19C/66F in the Health Club car park. Unfortunately, Pauline is feeling very fragile at the moment. I am learning to pull my full weight in the household. A Man’s work is certainly never done when his wife is incapacitated!

2nd April, 2015

Pauline is improving but can’t sustain it throughout the day. She stays in bed longer in the morning, gets up with energy but soon tires. It’s going to take some time to get back to full strength. Fortunately, her wounds are improving well and the bruising is already fading from black to yellow but she is still in considerable pain.

Talking of pain, although it was lovely to hear from a number of Greek friends on Sifnos this week, it is sad to hear there have been 30 deaths this winter and that many are directly linking that statistic to the bad weather. One friend told us that it rained continuously, the wind was strong and it snowed twice. Another told us of the high number of deaths and that it included her 88 year old mother-in-law and her 86 year old sister. If there is a causal link between the deaths and the winter weather, it illustrates quite starkly the parlous state to which Greece has fallen. When we first visited Sifnos in 1984, it felt like part of a Third World country and as we left it in 2014, it felt as if it was returning to that same parlous state but with mobile phones. If it accidently falls out of the E.U. in the next few weeks, its fall will be rapid and real.

Having said all of that, you can’t argue with stark beauty of the island’s position but is that enough? This is Kamares this evening.

I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

3rd April, 2015

I must admit that Easter means absolutely nothing to me – English this weekend or Greek next weekend but, to the Greeks, it appears to mean so much that their year revolves around it. Greek television now is dominated by Easter advertising with red painted eggs and festivity. News reports will be all about the price of lamb and film of the central Athens meat market with row upon row of butchered lambs hanging up as wild men wield meat cleavers precariously but with panache. Because of Pauline’s operation, we can’t be there this year but, as I say, that is no bad thing. It was the one time when we really felt like ‘outsiders’ – like Muslims at Christmas in Britain – unable to share in the mounting excitement. Nevertheless, we are sending out Easter Best Wishes to those who it means something to.

Six years ago today Pauline and I left work after 37 years of teaching. We still haven’t fully adjusted to being idle although it is getting easier. Pauline says I am obsessed with time and I am beginning to accept her view. I find it hard to believe that it was six years ago that we set off for Greece as retirees for the first time. I remember announcing to Stavros that we had finished working for good. His reaction was a sight to behold. It was a mixture of shock, horror and panic that crossed his face. At the time, we didn’t understand why but we were soon to find out. He had been ‘winging it’ on our house build, not keeping proper records or accounts and not retaining the all important ‘electricity’ certification. No wonder he panicked and bailed out. Still no true friend would have done that. Fortunately, that’s water under the bridge. The really worrying thing is that another six years will bring us to 70!

4th April, 2015

There is no question that Pauline’s recovery is developing but slowly. It is going to be a few weeks yet before she can be pronounced fully over her operation. However, next week some time, we think, she will go outside for the first time. It will probably only be sitting in the car but that will be a start. We are setting some targets by booking a few days in Yorkshire before we re-plan our travel across Europe.

I’ve done six straight one hour sessions at the Health Club this week so I’ve taken today off. By evening time, I’m beginning to regret it. I’m pacing the floor and looking for activity. I’ll be on that treadmill tomorrow come what may!

22nd March, 2015

As a student of politics, I am currently in my element. Britain is entering General Election phase. Political discussion and debate is everywhere. This looks like being one of the most unusual of my lifetime. Almost certainly, neither of the two, main parties will command a majority. We will have another Coalition Government based around Tory-Unionist-UKIP or Labour-Greens-SNP. Personally, I think the latter is the most likely but it is touch and go. I don’t think the Coalition will be the tight affair we have had this time but a looser, ‘Confidence & Supply’ arrangement which will almost certainly see a second election within a couple of years. Actually, it could be a good election to lose.

As we’ve all retired from teaching now, my generation of students/teachers is appearing on social media sites increasingly as they reaffirm or reconnect with their pasts. I found this group which included , Kevin, Chris and ‘Tash’/John on Facebook.

This is as much an observation on myself as it is on them but we all look as if we’ve been through the mill and, if you’ve been in education for forty years, you certainly have. The upside is that forty years of teaching will mean you have a good and secure, inflation-proofed pension. Most of my contemporaries, like Pauline & I, have two such pensions coming in and soon to be supplemented by State Pensions too which explains why we are able to trot the globe in search of those experiences we didn’t have time for while working.

23rd March, 2015

Pauline’s sister, Phyllis and her husband, Colin, celebrate their 58th Wedding Anniversary today – or they would if they could remember it.

 

Actually, I had it recorded in my on-line diary and alerted Pauline who phoned and alerted them. Two years to their Diamond. Amazing! Pauline & I are in our 37th year of marriage which feels quite an achievement in itself. We will each be 87 if we reach our Diamond Anniversary.

24th March, 2015

Inflation has fallen to 0.0% in Britain – the lowest since comparative records began in the 1980s. Oil prices, clothes and furniture prices allied to aggressive food price cutting in supermarkets have brought this about but it will soon be reversed when the year on year oil price drops out of the equation. However, there is a substantive debate about the return to our inflation target of 2%. That will be for the next Coalition Government.

Meanwhile, the investment veteran, George Soros, has said that Greece’s attempts to escape its financial woes are now a lose-lose game, and has estimated the chances of the country leaving the eurozone at about even…. Greece is going down the drain. As Greeks prepare for Independence Day tomorrow, the Germans are demonstrating that they have rarely had less independence than at the moment. Greece will run out of money for salaries and pensions by the end of April unless they do as the Germans wish. That really isn’t ‘freedom’.

Went to M&S a few days ago for Pauline to collect an order. While queuing, we saw a travel case that we both liked. It was £100.00. We wanted two really and, with only one available, didn’t buy it. Today, we returned to pick up another of Pauline’s orders when we noticed the single case remained and the price had been cut by 50%. At £49.99, we bought it quite happily. Thank goodness we didn’t last week.

25th March, 2015

Independence Day. We certainly feel independent this year. It’s been a lovely, warm day for having the doors and windows open and letting the Spring sunshine in. We did a hard session at the Health Club and then came home to a lovely meal prepared by Pauline – Roast Saddle of Rabbit with braised Fennel, onion and garlic mushrooms. It was absolutely delicious.

We’ve got a series of trips coming up to Ashford Hospital on the Surrey/Middlesex border. It’s not a particularly pleasant drive and could involve the M25. We are choosing to avoid it because that section has had huge holdups on the two occasions that we’ve gone there. We now drive through Egham and Staines which is much more leafy and interesting and passes the wonderful Royal Holloway building.

26th March, 2015

A fascinating day in British politics – the end of the parliament was marked by a grubby, little attempt by the Tories to prepare the ground for getting rid of their hate-figure, Speaker John Bercow.

Led by Cameron & Hague and poorly supported by Gove, they failed because weaker but more principled people than them supported the rout of their underhand and unpleasant attempt. It was a fitting way to see them off to the General Election which I still think has every chance of a Labour Government conclusion.

27th March, 2015

Up at 5.30 am and out of the house by 6.30 am on our way to Ashford Hospital. Pauline is being admitted for major surgery and, although we both know it’s for the best and everyone reassures us that she can be confident of the result, we are both rather jittery. Rush hour traffic en route is horrible and we arrive with only about fifteen minutes to spare for our deadline of 7.30 am. I give her a kiss and have to leave her with her bag of clothes at Reception as I drive home alone.

As I do, it strikes me how uncomfortable it is to be driving alone. I so rarely do it these days. Normal mode is me driving and Pauline arguing with the sat.nav. almost before we’ve driven out of the garage. With no one to argue with that digital voice, I obey it and arrive home to an empty house. Pauline and I are aware of this weakness. We are never apart. We worked together for forty years and now we live, retired, together. Being aware of the problem doesn’t make it any easier to deal with when we are apart.

When I did the drive back to the hospital in the evening, I found her looking pale, drawn and tiny in a huge bed with lots of nurses. The operation had gone well but knocked the stuffing out of her.

28th March, 2015

Yesterday was warm and sunny with blue skies. Today is quite chilly and grey with a little rain. I have spent my day reading Greek and British papers.

In Greece, bank accounts continue to haemorrhage billions of euros each month as the coalition, Syriza, raid pension funds, State Enterprises, etc and extend payment terms to suppliers just to keep the current account from going negative. Ratings agency Fitch has downgraded Greece’s sovereign rating amid growing uncertainty over the their pledge to overhaul reforms needed to restart bailout loan payments and avoid default.

In Britain, I thought Ed Milliband got the best of the debate with Cameron but the immediate, post-match spin following placed Cameron ahead. Interestingly, the first big poll taken since the debate and to be published tomorrow morning puts Labour 4% ahead and a clear vote for the sincerity of the Labour Leader over the Tory. People are immediately shown why Cameron has been desperately trying to avoid this confrontation.

 15th March, 2015

Quite a grey and cold day for Mothers’ Day. It doesn’t seem to be deterring birds who are singing from early to late each day and are busily foraging for nest building materials all around us.

Pauline & I no longer have Mothers but we know some so we are going out for a meal with them instead. An Italian meal in West Byfleet will be our marking of the day this year. To earn that privilege, we have done a session at the almost deserted Health Club this morning.

16th March, 2015

Got up at 7.00 am feeling tired today. Went through my morning routines still feeling tired. Even reading the paper was tiring. Drove towards the Health Club at around 1.00 pm but, as I drove, decided that I was too tired, turned round and drove home again. I must be overdoing it.

17th March, 2015

Mild but grey today. We were planning to visit a new housing development on the Sussex coast but we’ve postponed it until Thursday. Can’t go tomorrow because it’s the Budget debate and I’ll be glued to the Parliament programme.

Although we’ve had to delay our Greek trip until Pauline has had her operation, it may be no bad thing. We will know rather more clearly what the prevailing economic position will be. Interesting to see designs for the New Drachma notes being circulated in case the inevitable happens and Greece falls out of the Euro.

The 10,000 drachma note will be needed because inflation will skyrocket in the first couple of years or so. It will probably, like in post war Nazi Germany, just about pay for a loaf of bread!

Having spent an hour at the Health Club, the day has changed to a sunny and warm        14-15C/57-59F which is as good as Athens at this time in the afternoon.

18th March, 2015

Lovely, sunny and mild day. Budget day so we went to the Health Club early but it was so busy that we came back without parking. The budget has little of value to us. Our tax-free earnings are increased a little (£200 worth £40.00 per year) and we can now earn £1000.00 per year on investment earnings tax-free as well (worth £200.00 per year) so we will be £240.00 per year or £20.00 per month better off. This is not enough to buy our vote but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

We actually ate lunch today. Pauline made a lovely fresh salmon, parsley and garlic pâté which we ate with batons of celery. We ate it in the lovely Spring sunshine with a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

 

19th March, 2015

A chilly day which only reached 9C/48F. I know it’s only mid-March but we have become so accustomed to warmer temperatures that this feels out of place. We did a bit of shopping and then a hard Gym session.

Our friend, the Sifnos Notary got in contact this afternoon. We gave her some clay ‘planter’ baskets before we left and she has grown some lovely flowers in them and was keen to share this with us. It is nice. We also gave her a couple of wine carafes which she has grown bulbs in. We bought the carafes from Habitat in Manchester in 1978 for our wedding party. We have moved on to more sophisticated things – like bottles – now!

We can’t wait to see her and her family again. As soon as Pauline has recovered from her operation, we will make our arrangements.

20th March, 2015

The media in Britain had been injected with the ‘Eclipse’ drug. Everything and everyone could think and talk of nothing else. Yawn. I couldn’t see it myself. Actually, in Surrey, no one could see it because of heavy, low cloud. I couldn’t care less. I just can’t get interested in it. I have enough trouble coping with the real world to worry about the celestial one. It went a bit darker as if it was going to rain and it will all happen again in eleven years time when I am 75 – if I’m still alive. Can’t wait!

The irony was that, as soon as the ‘exciting’ period had passed, the clouds parted, the sun came out and everything was Summer. We went to Woking and then Ashford hospitals to get and transmit some test results, do a bit of shopping and enjoy driving in the sunshine. Nearly got that Friday feeling – nearly. One of the lads who worked for me before I retired six years ago wrote on his Facebook page – Friday and Payday. It doesn’t get much better than this. – It all seems so far away now.

21st March, 2015

As part of our absolutely wonderful, NHS service, I have an annual eye review. Mine was a couple of months ago and it has picked something up which has resulted in me going to see a specialist ophthalmologist dealing with Diabetic Retinopathy. My appointment is today. We have to go back to Ashford Hospital for the appointment this morning.

Pauline was driving today because of the strong eye drops they administer on these occasions. The Ophthamologist said he found no new signs of diabetic retinopathy. In fact, the long term prognosis for my sight is good even though I only have sight in one eye anyway. The downside is that I have to have regular checks which is a little tedious. I have to go for a three monthly check at Ashford Hospital if I am in England. Otherwise, it will be in October.